I don't ordinarily find the "canned" emails I get all that interesting but this one sure was:

The Quiet Sermon

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his pastors visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited. The pastor made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone.

Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead. Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The Pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it. As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday."

We live in a world today, which tries to say too much with too little. Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left unspoken.

It prompted my curiosity....
What action of yours best demonstrates your particular faith, not words, not beliefs, but actions only please?

fredg

Hi,
What action most demonstrats my faith?
Prayer.
Prayer is the most powerful force in the World.
Daily Prayer gives strength, and helps to try living according to the Will of God, as I understand it.

talaniman

Being tolerant of my fellow beings whether I like 'em or not

Morganite

I believe you will find that most people are loth to speak openly about their actions on grounds that they do not do them to be seen of men. Most will walk in the counsel of Jesus recorded in Matthew chapter vi:


1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.5 ¶ And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

In this part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about laying up treasures in heaven. On the day of final judgment, all secret deeds will be made known, and the Father will reward all people openly. The secrecy, modesty, if you will, with which the Christian should surround his good works, is expressed at:

Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth, that thine alms may be in secret

It might be that Jesus was advising against letting the natural inlcination to seek praise or self-aggrandisement become the motivating factor in Christian activitites. If they do, then we are acting from the wrong motives and our righteousness is called into question. He taught us to live our religion because we believe in it, because we are born again, not to make ourselves look good in the eyes of others. We attend church to worship God, not to be seen to be rpesent or to be counted. We engage in charitable acts because we are concerned for the welfare of our fellowmen, not for recognition. We do good and obey God not out of fear, but out of the righteous desires of our heart.

Meekness is a wonderful virtue that Christ taught as part of Christian integrity. It means to be free of false pride that demands we protect our 'image,' it means that we are not arrogant, and that we have our lives under self-control so that we are free to love God and man. The other great virtue which Christ taught, of course, is love, and that means we have to have an unselfish interest in the happiness and welfare of others, and that we do not use them merely to rack uop our own score of charitable and good works. Pure Christian love means we have a deep interest in the well-being of every human being whether merited it or not, whether friend or enemy, stranger or kin.

Perhaps a less personal question that would not involve your respondees promoting their own goodness would have been along the lines of "What actions best demonstrate religious faith?"



MRGANITE

valinors_sorrow

To be aware of and openly acknowledge the action is not an automatic cancellation of humilty, Morganite, but if you insist that it be more generic, by all means I am asking...

"What actions best demonstrate religious faith?"

Now will you answer the question?
Even though its very likely I might surmise that you take these actions personally yourself?

Morganite

Yous assumption might or might not be justified, since I would answer the question from the theological perspective rather than from the ground of what I personally manage to achieve of what I consider ideal behavior for a believer.

MRGANITE

valinors_sorrow

Takes note that still Morganite does not answer the question . . . LOL
I may begin to wonder if intentionally sidetracking a question is an action that demonstrates faith, if we aren't careful!
With all due respect Morganite, just begin by saying "Theoretically speaking . . ." or pass the question. Easy!

Besides, I am not afraid of being incorrect. I assure you it wouldn't be the first time or the last, if I were too. LOL
I love learning too much to be seriously hampered by that.

Morganite

Please note that I said not 'theoretically' but 'theologically.' I assume that you do not demand or expect an answer immediately, since you will be aware that many of us have other, more pressing and insistent, demands on our time.



MRGANITE

orange

I've been thinking about this for a while, and I don't think there's any one action that demonstrates for me what I believe in. However, some actions that I think are crucial to my beliefs are kindness, respect, and the willingness to grow and change. Being generous, interested in others, and a good listener (not only listening to what is said, but also to what is NOT said), and letting others "be", as in, letting them have their own beliefs, make their own mistakes, and not try to fix it for them or interfere. I have strong beliefs about the environment too, so I think recycling whenever I can, composting, taking public transportation more often, etc, are all really important.

Of course I'm not perfect haha I don't do all those things all of the time, but those are the things that I strive to do. And of course it goes without saying that I strive to be a good wife, mother and... zookeeper, LOL!! There are WAY too many animals in this house!!! Anyone want some guinea pigs??? Our pair just had babies a few days ago, so we now have 6 squealers, plus a rabbit, 2 large dogs, a cat and various fish. My husband saw pet octopi on TV and now he wants an octopus of all things!!! He's as bad as the kids!

Anyways those are the actions most important to me.

valinors_sorrow

To clarify this a bit, in case there is any remaining confusion, here is my disclaimer:

1. When I posed this question, I was a little tired of all the "talk" (as in talk can sometimes be so cheap?) and I wanted to know more about the "doing" (since it means, well, it is do-able and without question it inherently comes with belief already).

2. This is definately not meant as a "look good contest". It is a simple, straight forward question sincerely asked. No other agenda other than I was hoping to learn something I might do also.

3. Those who are uncomfortable obviously need not answer or even justify their reasoning. I understand, respect their choice and have meant no disrespect to anyone.

4. However since beliefs vary amongst us, some will answer, and I would appreciate their answers to be equally respected.

5. I totally accept all answers as valid for the answerer and appreciate their taking the time to offer thoughtful answers.

PHEW! And for what its worth, I am still really only interested in actions taken, not ideas or goals. It is important to me that it have practical credibility. THANKS!